The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …
California is shedding population faster than any other state. Who knew that people wouldn’t want to live in a state with high taxes, overpriced real-estate, schizophrenic business regulations, bad gun laws, and earthquakes.
But before the rest of us start partying like it’s 1984, they have to move somewhere, and they take their voting patterns with them. It’s kind of like The Borg. You will be assimilated.
Glenn Reynolds blogs about this ridiculous story at CBS News about how to cook on a budget. A “recession busting” budget of $35 dollars a meal. The slow cooker swiss steak we made last night was less than $10, and could have easily fed a family. Are these recession busting meals for former Wall Street execs who now find themselves faced with the horror of having to live like ordinary, every day rich people? No wonder the old media is going down the toilet.
Nothing like a little gun p0rn to round out the night. Looks like the Israelis are deploying the Tavor TAR-21 assault rifle to some troops in Gaza. They can be seen in these videos:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5TXvrl9CO4[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHhs9ihSmbU[/youtube]
Also in the news, apparently Israel is using the Ruger 10/22 at long ranges to suppress rioters in the West Bank. Anyone throwing rocks is a deadly threat to anyone within range of the rocks. I don’t see why people have a problem with this. Also, if anyone’s curious, the items being worn on the helmets of Israeli soldiers is the Mitznefet, and is part of their camouflage.
Mike Sullivan has resigned as director of ATF. I will be the first to admit when I am wrong. I originally said that the Bush administration would end with Mike Sullivan in charge of ATF, despite any opposition to his confirmation. It’s a week to go until Bush is out, so pretty clearly my prediction was off.
UPDATE: Turns out the resignation isn’t effective until January 20, so I guess I was right after all.
Latest study shows that yes, shall issue laws reduce crime.
Radley Balko talks about Washington D.C. wealth boom:
If we look at household income, the picture grows starker. After the 2000 Census, the richest county in America was Douglas County, Colorado. By 2007, Douglas County had fallen to sixth. The new top three are now Loudon County, Virginia; Fairfax County, Virginia; and Howard County, Maryland. All three are suburbs or exurbs of Washington, D.C. In 2000, 14 of the 100 richest counties were in the Washington, D.C., area. In 2007, it was nine of the richest 20.
Radley points out in the article who’s expense DC is getting rich at, and the answer is yours.
Apparently God wants us to harass businesses which sell a lawful product. Interesting that one of the “Clergy” in the pictures looks an awful lot like Bryan Miller. I didn’t even know Bryan was ordained!
Colosimo acknowledged that a significant number of handguns sold at his shop have been discovered to have been used in crimes. However, he said, that is because of the shop’s large sales volume for decades.
“We sell 100 times more than some other stores,” he said, adding that the shop has had contracts with “at least 250” Pennsylvania and New Jersey police departments during the last six decades, including Philadelphia’s.
He said he believed it was unfair to deny guns to prospective buyers simply because their previous purchases had been used in crimes.
“Suppose you came in here 10 years ago and bought five guns,” he said. “And you lose one of them, or it’s stolen, and five years later it’s used in a robbery. Does that mean I shouldn’t sell it to you?”
Miller said that retailers who signed the pledge still could “use discretion” in such situations.
Good for Colosimo’s for standing up to this crap. Any local gun shops who agree to not sell guns to people who have had guns stolen from them will not get my business, and I will do everything I can to make sure everyone knows why.
If anyone buys for a minute that Miller wouldn’t sue or smear any shop that used this “discretion” he speaks of, then they are nuts.
Jim Geraghty of The Campaign Spot has his take on the Holder deal which is pretty similar to mine:
The risk of defeat is high, and the rewards for victory are pretty small. And when you pick your hill to die on, you have to recognize that the consequence of failure is that you die.
Beyond differences on strategy and priorities, Erick’s characterization is irksome. Do Wayne LaPierre, John Sigler, Chris Cox, et al, really seem like the kinds of folks who change their minds because Reid and Leahy told them to? Do you really think that “pressure” from those two is all it takes to get the NRA leadership to change their minds? Come on.
Read the whole thing. Jim isn’t an NRA insider or a real big gun guy, but he knows politics. I’m not just parroting marching orders from Fairfax when I say this crap.
We have at least one gun control bill introduced in Congress. Thanks to Jdude for bringing this to my attention. Introduced by Congressman Rush, called HR45. It is a bill that mandates licensing, registration and safe storage for handguns and semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines. It also provides for inspection, so you surrender your fourth amendment rights by being licensed. It also requires reporting of Lost and Stolen firearms, and you must inform the federal government if you change addresses.
Normally, I’d tell everyone not to worry too much, because it’s probably not going anywhere, but we can’t take anything for granted in this Congress. Right now the bill has no co-sponsors, and has not been scheduled for a committee hearing, so it is no threat right now. But we should keep an eye on it. There is also the risk that Rush gets pieces of his bill attached as amendments to other bills on the House floor. The problem with this Congress is, if the Democrats were to decide that HR45 is the hill they want to charge up, we’re going to be hard pressed to stop them from taking it. In my last post I mentioned that NRA prefers not to take high risk gambles it doesn’t have to. If this bill goes anywhere they will have to gamble on stopping this one.  But the hope is the Democrats know it’s a high risk gamble too, and will also be wary of taking it. My interpretation is that this isn’t good ground for the Democrats to fight us on, so they aren’t likely to. But it’s a card on the table, and we have to be mindful of that.